Thanks
by gypsywriter135
Summary: What are you thankful for?


Okay, I know it's really early, but... I can't wait! This story has been bugging me for days now, so I decided to get it all out! Hope you like it, and have a great Thanksgiving!

Disclaimer: The turtles are not mine. But one day, Leo will be. And I will NEVER let him go!!!!!

**TMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNT**

As Casey Jones put the knife on the table, a frustrated sigh came from behind him. He whipped around, only to see April O'Neil rush past him and pick up the silverware, only to rearrange it in the exact same position, just on the other side of the plate.

"Casey, if you're not going to set the table, find something else to do!" she snapped, stirring something in the giant bowl she cradled in her arms.

Casey rolled his eyes. "It's just silverware, April. It doesn't matter where it goes, so long as it's at the table."

April glared at him, but when the timer went off in the kitchen, her eyes grew wide. She shoved the bowl in his arms with a curt "just keep stirring it" before she ran into the kitchen. There was a lot of banging around before a very flour-coated and flustered Donatello stepped out of the kitchen. He turned his big brown eyes to his friend, a questioning look on his face.

Casey just smiled and nodded before someone knocked into him.

"What it, Mikey," he said, turning to the orange-clad turtle, who was thumping the end of a pencil against his chin, a thoughtful look on his face, and his eyes glued intently to a notebook in his hands.

"Sorry, Case," he said, not looking up at his friend. He did turn in the direction of his brother, however, and glanced at him briefly. "Hey, Donny, what'd you write for your note this year?"

"Wait until the last minute again, huh, Mikey?" Don asked, chuckling. He wiped the flour off from his hands as his younger brother sat in a nearby chair, eyes still glued to the paper and pencil still tapping.

Mikey nodded. "Yeah, but I really don't know this year. I mean, I used Klunk last year, but this year is just really tough. So what'd you write for your letter?"

"Mikey, I can't tell you, you know that."

Mikey looked up long enough to glare at Don, who just smiled back.

Casey looked from one turtle to the other before he said anything. "What are you guys talkin' about?"

When Mikey showed no intention of answering, Don turned to their friend. "Every year at Thanksgiving since we were five, Master Splinter made us write down one thing that we were thankful for," he explained. "Then, at dinner, we burn them in a candle on the table, and it's supposed to bring us happiness for a whole year." He looked at Mikey and smirked. "And every year, Mikey waits until the last minute to write his note."

"Maybe I'll go trick Raph into telling me what he said…" Mikey muttered and stood up, walking out of the room.

Casey turned to Don. "Why can't you tell each other?"

"Because then the happiness would turn into sadness because sometimes, the thing you are thankful for can get a big head," Don said, rubbing his snout and getting flour all over his face. "I don't really know. It's a tradition that Master Splinter encourages every year." He shrugged.

Casey looked thoughtful, but his process was interrupted as April's cries from the kitchen echoed through the lair.

"Keep stirring, Casey! If that filling gets hard, then you have to supply the desert! And Don! Get your shell back in here! I need you!"

Don gave Casey a withering look and the two marched back into the war zone.

TMNT

Raph was looking though the CD's that they owned, trying to find something fitting to play during dinner when Mikey finally found him.

"Raph, what did you write for your note?"

Raph snorted. "Like I'd ever tell you, shell-fer-brains."

"Come on, Raph. Throw me a bone!" Mikey said, throwing the notebook against his leg. "I have only one hour left to get this done!"

"Yeah… and?"

Sticking his tongue out, Mikey sulked out of the room, heading to the dojo, where Leo was still practicing.

Knowing that he wouldn't help, Mikey decided to try anyways.

"Hey, Leo?"

Leo opened an eye from the meditation mat he was sitting on. It was apparent that he was almost done with his practice; he always finished up with meditating.

"What did you write for your note?"

Leo closed his eye. "Mikey, I can't tell you. You know the rules."

"But… Leo!"

Leo opened both eyes to fix his youngest brother with a look. Mikey sighed. "Can you at least give me a topic?"

"Mikey, I can't tell _you_ what _you're_ thankful for," Leo said, looking at him pointedly. "That's something you need to know."

"But… I don't know!" Mikey said, throwing the notebook on the floor and sitting on the floor next to his brother.

Leo chuckled slightly.

"What did you write about a few years ago?"

Mikey looked at him, the wheels turning in his head. "Um… Klunk one year… that we had found a new home the year we fought the Shredder… that we had found Master Splinter the one year…"

"You can use the same thing for more than one year, Mikey," Leo said.

Mikey looked at. "We can?"

Leo smiled. "Of course. I know Master Splinter writes about the same thing every year. And so do I."

Mikey looked him. "Really?"

Leo nodded.

Mikey was silent for a moment. "Hey, Leo? Can I ask you a question?"

Leo looked at him, eyes suspicious.

"When you were in the jungle… did you celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas and our birthday?"

Leo looked at him, confused. "Didn't you get the stuff I sent you?"

Mikey gave Leo the same look. "What stuff?"

Sadness crossed Leo's face before it was quickly replaced by blank emotion. "I sent you a note for Thanksgiving, gifts for Christmas and our birthday… You didn't get them?"

Mikey shook his head. "We didn't get anything from you after you didn't come home after… those first six months…"

Leo's eyes became distance. "I'm sorry, Mike," he whispered. "I don't know why they didn't come. And after a few months, I figured that you wouldn't like hearing from me, since I had decided not to come home…"

"Leo, we _did_ want to hear from you," Mikey disagreed. "We thought you were…"

He didn't need to finish the sentence to have Leo know what he meant.

Leo had that distant look on his face again, and Mikey quietly got up and left, picking up his things as he did. He went over to the door and donned a trench coat.

"Don't go to far, Michelangelo," Master Splinter said, coming out from his room and seeing what his youngest son was doing. "Dinner will be ready shortly."

"Yes, Sensei," Mikey nodded, then turned and exited the lair, hands in the pockets of his coat.

_What am I thankful for?_ He asked himself. _My home… my cat… my family… Oh, those are all so clichéd! Hmm… what else is there?_

As other ideas ran through his head, Mikey didn't pay attention to where he was going. So, it came as a surprise when he ended up at the old lair. Blinking, he walked over to the door, running his hand over the rough, brick surface.

Seeing a piece of paper sticking out from the crevice between the door and the wall, Mikey reached forward and grabbed it. Recognizing Leo's handwriting, curiosity got the better of him, and he turned the envelope over.

_NOT TO BE READ. THANKSGIVING NOTE. BURN AT DINNER._

Mikey's eyes opened wide. _This is the letter Leo was talking about! What a coincidence…_

Mikey stared at it for a good while, but he couldn't take it. He needed to know what his brother was thankful for.

_Plus, it might give me an idea…_

Looking around to make sure he was alone, Mikey opened the envelope and smoothed out the letter inside.

_What am I thankful for this year?_

_Well, it's definitely not my current "home." I'm living in a small cave by myself. I have no one to share my thoughts with, and no one to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. And I'm pretty sure that I'm not thankful for being here right now. I have no family to help me with anything._

_So what am I thankful for?_

_I know exactly._

_I'm thankful for my brothers._

_I'm thankful that I have them. I'm thankful that Mikey can bring laughter to any solemn situation; he really does have a gift. And I'm thankful that Don is as smart as he is. He really could give Einstein a run for his money. One day, he will decide the future for our world. And not to mention that his medical knowledge has saved our shells on more than one occasion. And I'm thankful that Raph has the guts to stand up to me. He makes sure that I know what I'm doing, and he makes me second-guess myself, so that I can always come up with the best strategy to keep them all safe._

_The three of them make me who I am. And though they aren't here with me, and I'm not at home to celebrate this holiday, I still think about them everyday. And every day, I am thankful that they are my brothers, because if they weren't, then I would have no reason to exist._

_So, thanks… for giving me my brothers. They do a lot more for not only me, but everyone else, than you think._

Mikey stared at the note. Leo… really loved them.

Well, he already knew that. But now he knew just on how great a level that he loved them. This note just proved it. Because even though he was halfway around the world, Leo was still trying to do things for them…

Mikey ran back to the lair, already knowing what he was going to write about, his brother's letter clenched tightly in his hand.

TMNT

Everyone gathered around the table, Master Splinter at the head. Raph and Leo were n either side of him, and then next to them were Mikey and Don, followed by April and Casey, then Usagi and Gen, and then Leatherhead and Professor Honeycutt. At the other end of the table sat the Ultimate Daimyo himself.

"Before we begin this great dinner that Miss O'Neil and Donatello prepared," Master Splinter said. "My sons and I have a little ceremony we would like to conduct." He pulled out a small piece of paper and held it above the candle in front of him, where it caught fire, turned black, and became ash in a few seconds. Leo was next, followed by Raph, then Don. Then it was Mikey's turn. He smiled and followed suit.

"Then let us… dig in, as my sons say," Master Splinter said with a smile.

Three hours later found the four turtles, Master Splinter, and April and Casey sitting in the living room, all sprawled around. Leo was on his favorite chair, dozing slightly. Raph and Don were lying on the floor, heads propped up against the bottom of the couch, and were clicking through the channels. Master Splinter was at one end of the couch, Casey and April were next to him, and then Mikey was slouched next to her.

"That was a really cool thing at dinner, Mikey," she said quietly. "It really was sweet."

Mikey nodded. "Yeah… really makes ya' think."

There was a comfortable silence for a while before April whispered to Mikey again. "So… what are you thankful for?"

Mikey smiled, eyes roaming over to a certain older turtle. He watched as Leo's eyes fluttered closed and his chin dropped to his chest, only to jerk it up a few seconds later.

"I'm thankful that I have a great big brother who loves me so much, and who would do anything for me…"

April looked confused, but didn't say anything. She went back to watching the T.V.

After the show they were watching was over, April and Casey left, and Master Splinter went to bed. It wasn't to long after that Don nodded off and Raph's soft snores drifted from the floor. Mikey glanced at Leo. He was gazing at the two middle brothers fondly with tired eyes.

"Hey… Leo?" Mikey yawned, eyes already drifting shut.

Leo looked over, eyes questioning.

Mikey yawned, finally entering dreamland, but getting his message out all the same, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks…"

**TMNTTMNTTMNTTMNT**

I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday. And every year, my mom makes the biggest fuss over where the silverware goes.

I just don't get it.

She goes nuts, so I try to make myself scarce.

But for some reason, this idea just popped into my head. I don't do the celebration, and I've never heard of any one doing it, so I don't know if it can really happen, lol. It just kinda went with the story.

Review and let me know what you think!!!


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